Death By Hobgoblin

A new and preposterous way to waste time at work!

The Crypt of Damron, Part 2

PBEM after Xmas 2009

28

JAN/09

After your initial encounter with goblins and hobgoblins in the Calix family crypt, you found yourselves shaken and battered, huddling in the shelter of the Squirewood about a half mile from the entrance to the crypt. Forced to spend the night while waiting for the recovery of the dwarven cleric Jaafs (a.k.a. “Lo-Blo”), your small group found themselves in a hushed but tense conversation about what your next course of action should be. Arb, dissatisfied with the current state of the “mission” argued for reentering the crypt as soon as Lo-Blo was healthy again; he felt that perhaps by trying a different door, easier access to the hostages might be found. The rogue Drake, however, was concerned that the denizens of the crypt were now alerted to your presence. Indeed, your party might not be safe even here in the cover of the Squirewood, so he felt your best course would be to return to Scarring Green, get fresh supplies and maybe recruit some local farmers as spear-bearers, and only then return to the crypt. Roger, still stunned by the hobgoblins’ ability to resist his potent dweomers, agreed with Drake, and even suggested that they might inform the Lady Gerard that more powerful allies were needed to rescue any survivors from the crypt.

The next morning, Lo-Blo was conscious, and was still weak enough that he too agreed that the party should retreat back to the village and then go from there. As turned out, however, the furry ears of fate had other plans. Retracing your steps through the forest without a practiced woodsman proved to be more difficult that you at first anticipated. After making slow progress back eastward for a number of hours, you heard voices through the trees. After some anxious scouting by Drake was successful, you came to find out that the new interlopers were a small group of five of Lord Gerard‘s soldiers led by his trusted captain of the guard, Piet Auliver. After sizing up Piet and his men, you all decided quickly that this was just the help you needed, and the ten of you set off for the crypt in the desperate hope that some of the hostages would still be alive . . . and that no new ones had been abducted.

After re-entering the crypt, your small band decided, at the behest of both Arb and Captain Auliver, to head straight back to the hobgoblin room. With knowledge of your enemies and the added swords of Auliver’s men, you dispatched the hobgoblins, and their goblin sharpshooters, with relative ease.
However, upon going into the next chamber, you were confronted with a horrible sight: Polybdus’ mother Ranay chained to a sacrificial altar and at the mercy of Damron, a priest of Vecna. Worse still, as Damron’s undead minions attacked, Roger’s knowledge of the arcane revealed to him that if Damron completed the ritual, a pile of rotting corpses at the back of the room could coalesce into a single, gigantic, undead abomination: apparently the “Gorax” which you heard reference to in your first adventure. Fortunately, Roger’s warning spurred the group into action, as a heroic exchange of blows was capped off when Arb pulverized Damron’s skull with an arcing swing of his maul.
After Ranay was brought around through Lo-Blo’s ministrations, she directed you to the room with the remaining four hostages. After an arduous battle with a troop of orc mercenaries, the hostages were freed. The joy of their emancipation was short-lived, though, as the remnants of Damron’s goblinoid forces rushed into the room, only to be met by an orb of unearthly fire unleashed by Roger. After some further bloody work by your small band, the goblins were finally vanquished.
In the aftermath of the battle, Drake’s perceptive eye found a small storage room where Damron was keeping some of his ill-gotten gains. While these parceled out amongst your own party and Auliver’s men, the prisoners revealed a disturbing fact: there yet remained another part of the dungeon—the old Calix family crypt itself. This had been sealed off by Damron and his minions when he realized that his magicks had awakened the disturbed spirits of the Calix clan. Captian Auliver was disturbed by the news, but said he was willing to let sleeping dogs lie: he was desperately needed back with his lord Baron Gerard in the wars to the north that were being fought with a huge goblinoid army, from which these goblins were no doubt deserters. Finally, he suggested that your party might return to Scarring Green where, in passing through, he had heard tell of a new menace: an influx of wolves who were killing livestock and threatening farmers.

The Wrap-Up
So, Drake, Arb, and Roger each get 500XP for successfully completing the challenge. Drake will begin the next challenge -2 healing surges; Roger with -1 healing surge. (Mighty Arb had no failures). You also get to figure out amongst yourselves how spilt up the following treasure:
400 gp; 300 sp; two casks of brandywine worth 25gp each; a 100gp amethyst; a Bag of Holding; a Staff of Winter +1; a thundering hammer +1; 1 potion of healing